America's Infrastructural Reckoning

Through the lens of Henry Petroski's new book, Tom Vanderbilt discusses why infrastructure, as we have come to define it, is such a fraught topic in American life.

1 minute read

February 27, 2016, 9:00 AM PST

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc


Syracuse Highway

George Foster / flickr

Every day, politicians apply the term "crumbling" to American infrastructure. While few would deny the importance of good civil engineering to our daily lives, Petroski asks why infrastructure is failing in an ostensibly practical nation. "'We tend to be oblivious to much of our infrastructure, even when it is in plain sight, until something goes wrong with it,' Petroski writes in The Road Taken. The engineering profession itself, he notes, has not been immune from this tendency."

Upkeep is a less glamorous business than new construction, and doesn't quite fire the American pioneering spirit. Vanderbilt writes, "There may be, Petroski hints, something in the American character, the impromptu pragmatism of a settler nation, that emphasizes the quick fix, what one historian called 'the self-fulfilling perception that rapid innovation would quickly render current designs obsolete.'"

"But perhaps more intractably, infrastructure is politically hard. Petroski quotes an early proponent of roads who said that highways are 'built chiefly of politics' instead of proper materials like 'crushed rock or concrete.'" And the immediacy of our politics may not equip us to handle long-term investment.

Monday, February 15, 2016 in The New Republic

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

6 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine